This invention relates to the manufacture of soft plastic artificial fishing lures, and more particularly to methods of molding such fishing lures. Soft plastic fishing lures have been injection molded with fins or other appendages of the lure projecting at an angle away from the main body of the lure. When such fins or other appendages were molded in closed pockets, the closed pockets were vented to the atmosphere with air escape holes to prevent air from being trapped in the closed pockets. The air vents increased the cost of the molds and wasted plastic which flowed into the vents during the molding process. Separating the lure from the mold after the plastic had hardened was a time consuming task because the lures would stick in the mold cavities and the plastic in the vent holes had to be broken or cut off the lures and removed from the mold halves.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide improved methods and molds for casting soft plastic fishing lures, and improved lures manufactured by such methods and in such molds.
Another object is to provide molds and methods of casting fishing lures that reduce plastic scrap.
An additional object is to provide artificial fishing lure manufacturing methods and molds that reduce the time workers spend cleaning up and trimming flash and other waste from molded soft plastic lures.
Another object is to provide fish lure molding methods and molds that do not require lubricants or other separating agents for removal of the finished lures from their molds.
Another object is to provide molds and methods of molding fishing lures that automatically loosen the lures and release them from their molds.
Another object is to provide fishing lure manufacturing methods that do not require mold halves with air vent openings.
Another object is to provide soft flexible finned fishing lures with integral gussets that hold the soft flexible fins at the same predetermined angle with the lure central axis when the lures are moved through water.
A further object is to provide relatively low cost, defect-free soft plastic fishing lures made by simplified, economical plastic injection molding methods in molds that do not possess the defects or disadvantages of similar prior art manufacturing methods and molds.
Other objects and advantages of the fishing lures and molding methods and molds incorporating this invention will be found in the specification and claims and the scope of the invention will be set forth in the claims.